Aartekt – Animal Crackers Vol. 6

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Aartekt – Animal Crackers Vol. 6

The Animal Crackers Volume 6 podcast comes from Aartekt, Leeds duo Liam and John who are each known for founding 2 of the choicest underground house parties in their city, Vagabondz and Flux respectively. Joining American-born, Berlin-based Alland Byallo’s Bad Animal label that launched in 2011, Aartekt’s contribution to the podcast series is a sublime articulation of the imprint’s core elements, “dedicated to an alternative sound and frame of mind…both beautiful and wild.”

You know a mix is prime when it warrants at least 10 listens. Aartekt’s Vol. 6 starts mellow with a funky, soulful, deep house vibe. Sprinkled in are those signature, silky spoken word clips, waxing poetic about how “house music is a true music, you can’t lie to house music.” And then by about 30 minutes in the “cream” starts congealing so to speak, as the tempo builds to atmospheric synths, euphoric melodies, and pulsating percussions.

My favorite chunk starts at around 49 minutes in – again, with a gradual, smoldering burn it blazes into more of a techno soundscape with Ben Klock’s “Subzero,” followed by the breathtaking “Paroles (Mike Ink Remix 96)”, before it finally fades back down to Martyn’s dubby “In This Insanity.” The transition from “Paroles’s” empyrean vocals into that gloomy, tribal chant is utter perfection, ending remarkably with the gentle piano strokes of Claude Debussy’s Suite Bergamasque: 3 “Clair de Lune.” Unexpected and exquisite.

With the first installment from Byallo himself, Animal Crackers is a hefty mixtape series coming from the type of independent label that is rare to find, comprising Byallo’s own productions alongside the work of intimate friends in the industry, with profits going to the World Wildlife Fund. Keep track of upcoming Animal Crackers podcasts through Alland Byallo’s Soundcloud or Bad Animal on Facebook.

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